Letters and Comments Willing to die Diet and Sleep

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THE MAHARSHI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July / August 2002Vol. 12 - No. 3

 

 

 

Produced & Edited byDennis HartelDr. Anil K. Sharma

 

 

 

Letters and Comments

Willing to Die

I have an intense, burning desire to realize the Self/God. I have read the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. The main thing for me is still missing and what I cannot understand is:1. What do I have to keep in mind during the day - while at work, at home, or anywhere - so that I can speed up the process of being awakened to the true nature of the Self/God?2. To be awakened, I am willing to die. My only desire is to merge in God. Could you please advise me?

- Castro Valley, California

Your burning desire to realize the truth will, if kept ablaze, undoubtedly take you to the destination. If you intensely turn inward and practice Vichara during the times you are not required to be occupied externally, the inner peace experienced at these times will continue as an undercurrent during all your activities. If you do not experience that undercurrent at present, know that you must intensify your efforts and pray for God's grace.

If you are "willing to die" in your pursuit of Truth, the attainment of the final experience is certain. Death does not mean the bodily death, for the body is already a living corpse. It is the death of the ego that qualifies us for the grace of realization. So continue, relentlessly, with dedication and devotion, according to your understanding, and the Maharshi will guide you to the final shore of freedom and joy. - Editor

Diet and Sleep

It has been over six months since we last corresponded. There have arisen many questions during this period. Some have been answered by reading various Maharshi-centered publications, while others either have become unimportant or neutralized by the simplicity and directness of the ‘Who Am I?’ process. Plus, there is no ‘end game’ around the knowledge that ‘I am not the doer’. I do feel that I am in the ‘jaws of a tiger’, sometimes.

I meditate an hour in the morning, plus another hour of reading, and have a half-an-hour of meditation in the afternoon. There is the inward pull during the day that draws me more and more to the constant thought of ‘Who Am I?’. I am not able to bring the self into the physically-centered Heart, nor do I necessarily have a sense that the ignorance of separation has diminished. I do, at times, feel a profound sense of having experienced Grace.

Maharshi said that sattvic food — described as of a mild vegetarian composition with no alcohol— is important. Is there any further information on this subject that one should be concerned with? I have a heart condition, so I do eat salmon twice-a-week for the Omega 3 oil. Other than that, I am pretty much a vegetarian, without using a lot of dairy products. I have given up wine, though the Harvard Heart Letter says that there is solid, scientific evidence that wine has a positive effect on heart-related illnesses.

The other ‘house keeping’ concern I have is the amount of sleep that was suggested in the book The Technique of Maha Yoga, by N. R. Narayana Aiyer. His recommendation of no more than four or five hours of sleep per night runs counter to the latest scientific studies on inadequate sleep and its effects on the immune system. I need a minimum of six or seven hours a night and would like eight but seldom get it. This author also had some other somewhat ridged precepts that I have not read as being those of the Maharshi. So, I find myself uncertain in an area that I am unqualified to make a judgement on, but do so anyway out of the aged habit of self preservation. What are your thoughts on this and any of the above?

I don't know that being in a community of Maharshi devotees would make the path any less difficult, but being alone is where I am and so it must be perfect. But, it would be nice to...

- Roseburg, Oregon

Thank you for your thoughtful letter. We are encouraged by it. And, yes, I am sure you have been caught in the ‘tiger’s jaws’. Major Allan Chadwick wrote a nice poem on this, titled, "Will You Not Let Me Go?" We printed it in the first Maharshi newsletter in 1991.

Bhagavan recommended sattvic food in moderate quantities. To my knowledge, he did not recommend fasting to devotees. He has said that all nutritional requirements can be found in a vegetarian diet.

Bhagavan, of course, slept very little. He noted that sleep was for the mind, not for the body, which can recuperate while taking rest, remaining awake. Often a very active mind may require more sleep, whereas a tranquil mind may require less. No two individuals will be alike, and I do not believe there is a hard and fast rule on the number of hours we should sleep every night. Bhagavan did say that we should engage in Self-enquiry while awake. That appears, though indirectly, to be his most important teaching in regards to sleep.

We are always alone, even while with others. If one can carry on one's sadhana intensely while alone it is good. To live in a community of seriously-practicing aspirants is also helpful, but hard to find. We all have to do what we can where we are. That is most important.

- Editor

 

 

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